Daniel Tosh raises $25,000 for Andy Ritchie’s medical bills, doubles down betting it on football

Daniel Tosh loves the Miami Dolphins, but he cares more about his friend and fellow comedian, betting against his favorite NFL team tonight to turn $25,000 in auction earnings into a $50,000 donation for Andy Ritchie‘s multiple brain surgeries.

“That’s Gambling 101. Never bet with your heart. It’s bad luck. But I only bet on the Pats to cover the first half spread. This is a can’t lose!” Tosh had said Tuesday.

The first-half point-spread in Vegas was 3.5 when Tosh placed his bet. The Patriots led the Dolphins 19-0 tonight at halftime.

Tosh revealed his bet on tonight’s Dolphins-Patriots game earlier this week on his Comedy Central series, Tosh.0.

Tosh’s show had raised the money selling off memorabilia seen on previous episodes, but then tossed to a clip of Ritchie’s Live at Gotham set from Comedy Central in 2010.

“I could go to Harvard for a semester, or the Love Ranch for two days. As you know, last time, I took all the money to Vegas and gambled it away on a single hand of blackjack. Still a solid idea! It wasn’t my fault! That numbnuts to my right dirtied up the shoe with an ill-advised hit. But I’ve matured a lot in the past three years, so now I’m going to do something actually useful and donate it all to Trump for America! I’m joking! I’m giving it to a friend and fellow comedian, Andy Ritchie.”

“Very funny! But unfortunately Andy is currently battling a brain tumor, which is way less funny. If you want to help him out, please donate anything you can to his GoFundMe page. And I encourage you to. $5 $10 anything, and sure Andy could use the $25,000,” Tosh said. But how about $50,000 instead? “So I’m going straight to the Sports Book and putting Andy’s money on a can’t miss: This Thursday’s Miami Dolphins vs. the New England Patriots game”

As viewers saw, Ritchie’s GoFundMe had raised $40,000 when Tosh taped the episode. It stands currently at $44,747 from 549 donors as of 10 p.m. EDT Thursday. The fund’s goal is $100,000.

Go to https://www.gofundme.com/AndyRitchie to donate.

As Tosh rationalized earlier in the week: “If my Dolphins are winning, I’m happy. If they’re losing, Andy gets some much needed help. If the Dolphins are only losing by three points, there is no God,” Tosh said. “So please, Tom Brady, for once in your life, you and Bill [Belichick] use your shady, dishonest cheating powers for good in the first half only. In the second half, I hope you get the shit kicked out of you. Do the right thing, New England. For Andy!”

Tosh isn’t the only comedian lending a hand. Just the highest-profile one.

Jimmy Pardo is sending all of the proceeds from a “Yunnerstand?” T-shirt his Never Not Funny podcast is selling to help Ritchie out. You can buy the shirts for $20 here: http://onekolor.com/shirt_yunnerstand.php

The One Kolor site also is selling a “Hang In There!” T-shirt to support Ritchie, which Ritchie himself designed. “This design always made me laugh, but we never put it out there,” the site’s makers write. “Now it’s morbidly appropriate. But still funny. PRE-ORDER one today…you’ll feel good you helped this sincerely hilarious and genuinely wonderful person.

As Brendon Walsh, who put together the GoFundMe campaign with fellow comedians Nick Swardson and Colton Dunn, noted just a couple of hours ago, Ritchie and his fiancee, comedian Ruby Collins, need our support more than ever now.

“Hey everyone, I wish I had better news about Andy right now. Unfortunately Andy suffered a stroke after his last operation and the rehabilitation and care that he needs is extensive,” Walsh wrote tonight.

“This is a real crummy situation our friend Andy and his fiancee Ruby are facing, so please help out however you can. We need to get Andy into a great facility than can provide the intense care he needs.”

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